What's A Soulmate?
by Megwill
Summary: "What's a soul-mate Auntie Kate?" asked Ryan's daughter as they both swung on the swings that had become so much more than just swings to Kate. She glanced across the street to the book store she knew Castle was in and smiled.


Beckett's speech is from a tv show I never watched but saw a youtube vid with the voiceover. The show the voiceover is from was called Dawson's Creek. Please watch the Youtube video! It's OMG everything we love about Caskett! It may even be better than Still's montage. watch?v=PRBvs6YWi-s&list=LLDuL0ay8XkW46KePPYecvoQ It's called 'Castle & Beckett What's A Soulmate' by Danielle Summers. For my niece who deals with my OCD and my sister and brother in law who are overseas. I miss and love you guys so so much!

* * *

It was around 10:30 pm at the Ryan residence. Kevin and Jenny were watching television, but sixteen year old Kaylinn sighed frustrated at the paper she had been working on since yesterday. It needed to be done by Friday because first, it was due Monday and second; she wanted to hang out with her friends this weekend and today was Thursday.

Kaylinn drew in a breath and let it out as she looked at her prompt: Explain what a soul mate is to you. When she first received the prompt she thought it a stupid, and mainly because she had no idea where to start. What did she know about soul mates? She was only sixteen. Why in the world would the teacher assign this? She shook her head and went to bed with a blank piece of paper feeling not so sure about her stupid prompt. As she lay in bed staring at the ceiling she suddenly had an idea and planned to put it into action tomorrow.

* * *

Kaylinn walked into the familiar lab and was greeted by a warm face, "Hey, Kaylinn. What are you doing down here girl? I thought you only interned during the summer. I mean unless you wanted to help after hours. Then you know I will put you to work girlfriend." Kaylinn smiled at the Medical examiner. She was funny and Kaylinn had always loved her and her Uncle Javi.

"Actually I have a question," Kaylinn ambled up to Lanie.

"Well are you going to ask it?" Lanie wondered.

Kaylinn chuckled internally, "I have a paper due."

"Ok, honey. That doesn't really help me," Lanie said as she rolled a body out, "Walk and talk baby, this guy's time is up. Can you steer that end please?" Lanie asked as she nodded toward the end of the rolling slab. Kaylinn nodded very much use to seeing dead bodies. "Alright, what is this paper about?"

"What do you think a soul mate is?" Kaylinn walked backwards pulling the rolling slab as she helped direct it in the proper direction as Lanie pushed Mr. Martin.

Suddenly, Lanie stopped pushing, "Your teacher gave you this? What class is this?"

"English Auntie Lanie and it correlates with Valentine's day. I think it's kind of cute." Kaylinn said and Lanie shook her head.

"Honey, that is a loaded question and I'm not going to be responsible for screwing up your paper." Lanie eyed Kaylinn.

"Pleeeeaaase Auntie Lanie," Kaylinn gave her the trademark Ryan puppy dog pout.

"Oh, fine, but if you get an F don't you come running to me." Lanie told her, "Understand?"

"I understand," Kaylinn shook her head up and down yes.

"It's the one person in the world that was made for you, the one you search for your whole life. When you find them, it might be a hard go of it, but they will always be there." Lanie said with a smile.

Kaylinn nodded slowly, "So, that's it?"

"What do you mean that's it? Get out of my morgue little Ryan. I need to perform an autopsy." Lanie shook her head as she shooed Kaylinn out with a smile, "Good luck with your paper girl!" Lanie shouted as Kaylinn walked out of the morgue.

"Thanks!" she shouted back down the hall. Now as she walked the corridors of the hospital back to her car she suddenly had an epiphany. She dug her cell out of her pocket and dialed her Uncle Castle, but quickly hung up remembering he and her Auntie Kate were in California this weekend. She remembered overhearing her Auntie Kate complaining about going to her Uncle Castle's new book's movie debut "United Heat" to her Auntie Lanie. So, who else was there? Her Uncle Javi? She debated it a moment and decided to give him a chance.

"Yo. What's up Kaylinn? You okay?" Esposito asked and Kaylinn rolled her eyes at her over protective Uncle.

"I'm fine Uncle Javi. What are you doing? I need to ask you a question." Kaylinn said quickly knowing her Uncle was always on the go.

"Well, shoot." Esposito said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"It's for a school paper. What do you consider a soul mate?" Kaylinn waited.

"Are you kidding me right now smalls? The teacher asked you to describe what a soul mate was?" Esposito asked.

"I just said that." Kaylinn said.

"That teacher needs to get laid." Javi mumbled under his breath.

"Uncle Javi I can hear you!" Kaylinn scolded.

"Oh, well that…um, a soul mate, eh?" Esposito asked again and looked to Ryan covering the mouth piece, "Bro. What kind of school do you have Kaylinn going to? They want her to write a paper about what a soul mate means to her."

Ryan looked at Esposito, "Honestly, I'm more worried that she called you for help on this paper." Ryan said.

"Hey! I know what a soul mate is…" Esposito argued and Kaylinn shook her head and hung up on her Uncle.

Esposito put the phone back to his ear, "Kaylinn a soul mate is someone that you can't live without. The one you-" Espo held the phone out and looked at it odd, "Your kid hung up on me." Espo said as Ryan laughed.

* * *

Kaylinn hopped into her car and drew in a deep frustrated breath and exhaled. She thought for sure her Auntie Lanie would have helped her out more. Oh well. Now she just drove to where she knew not. Somehow she ended up at the park. She walked over to the swings and sat down in deep thought.

Suddenly, she had an epiphany, no, no it was a memory. It definitely happened. She smiled as she looked up to the sky, closed her eyes, and remembered.

_There was no extended day at daycare today and four year old Kaylinn Ryan was sitting on the ground, legs crossed, waiting in the car line with everyone else for her Auntie Kate to pick her up. The little blonde girl stood when she saw her Auntie's unmarked patrol car. The other kids would sometimes whisper excited at the fact that her Auntie wore a gun or drove a patrol car sometimes, but it just seemed normal to Kaylinn. _

"_Kaylinn do you see your ride?" asked one of the teachers who was unfamiliar with Kaylinn's family dynamic. Most all of the teachers knew Kaylinn's father was a cop as well as an Aunt and one Uncle._

"_Yes," Kaylinn nodded and pointed to her Auntie's car._

"_Okay, let's go." Ms. Lundy walked her to her car and opened the rear passenger door as she helped Kaylinn put her book bag in the back seat._

"_Thanks Ms. Lundy! Bye!" Kaylinn said and then looked up front, "Auntie Kate!"_

"_Hi Kaylinn, how was your day?" asked Kate._

"_Good! I made this." Kaylinn held up a piece of paper with her family on it and hearts around them. "I wrote my name with macaroni! We made it because Valentine 's Day is coming up and my teacher, Ms. Lundy said that we should make a Valentine card for our family."_

"_That's great Kaylinn. Your mom and dad will love it."_

"_Where are we going?" ever curious Kaylinn asked._

"_To the swings for a little while until your mommy gets off work." Beckett checked in the rearview at the little girl looking out the window while in her car seat._

_Kaylinn ran to the swings once they arrived and tried to pull herself up into one. "Auntie Kate can you help me please?"_

"_Yeah, hang on Kaylinn, I'm coming." Kate said as she walked over to the swing and helped Kaylinn up onto the swing. _

_Beckett knew Kaylinn had been working on swinging all by herself and she wanted to show Kate. _

"_Out, in, out, in…" Kate stood behind Kaylinn and instructed her to pump her legs out when she went forward and back when she went backward. _

_Kaylinn smiled, "Look I'm doing it all by myself! Look Auntie Kate! Look at me!" Kate laughed a bit and smiled as well._

"_That's excellent Kaylinn! You're such a big girl!" Beckett said as Kaylinn repeated 'out' and 'in' as she kept swinging._

_Kaylinn slowed down and looked up at her Auntie, "Did you see me?! I did it! I'm doing it!"_

"_I did. You are a big girl Kaylinn." Beckett smiled._

"_Auntie?" Kaylinn asked as she proudly swung back and forth._

"_Yes?" Kate said as she walked over and sat down on the swing next to Kaylinn's._

"_What's a soul mate?" Kaylinn suddenly asked._

"_Why do you want to know what a soul mate is Kaylinn?" Kate was miffed._

"_I heard Ms. Lundy say she thinks she found her soul mate to Mrs. Johnson." Kaylinn confirmed._

_Kate smiled at the little girl and then glanced quickly across the street. Castle had a book signing today and Beckett's shift change allowed her to pick up Kaylinn since Ryan and Jenny weren't able too. Kate hated the book signings, but there was a certain nostalgia to this particular book store. It was the one across from what Kate had come to refer and think of as 'their' swings. She made time to go to that signing, because it was at that signing she had returned to him after three months of not speaking to him. It was on a rainy night across the street from that particular book store she realized what was most important to her. So, she came to this one._

"_Auntie?" Kaylinn snapped her Auntie out of her memories._

"_A soul mate," she glanced across the street again and exhaled, "What's a soul mate?" Kate whispered under her breath as she rolled the question over and shook her head back and forth slightly._

"_Yep." Kaylinn said as she swung. _

_Kate looked to the ground as she let her feet drag in the dirt, "It's a…well, it's like a best friend, but more. It's the one person in the world that knows you better than anyone else," Kate glanced over to the book store and back at Kaylinn. "It's someone who makes you a better person, well, actually they don't make you a better person... you do that yourself- because they inspire you. A soul mate is someone who you carry with you forever. It's the one person who knew you, and accepted you, and believed in you before anyone else did or when no one else would. And no matter what happens…you'll always love them. Nothing can ever change that." _

"_Can they swing all by themselves too?" Kaylinn asked with all the enthusiasm of a four year old._

_Kate chuckled, "You have no idea." Kate smiled._

"_I do too have ideas Auntie!" Kaylinn scolded._

Suddenly, a perfect mixture of a sixteen year old Jenny and Ryan opened her eyes and smiled. Kaylinn's head to the sky, her thick long blonde hair reached half way down her back. She was gorgeous, sweet, raised by the twelfth, and the most talkative little dork just like her father. Kaylinn smiled, and hopped off of the swing she not only learned to swing on twelve years ago, but learned what a soul mate was. She now walked to her car with a perfect answer to her prompt.

* * *

The weekend had come and gone and Beckett and Castle were back from California and in the precinct when the elevator opened and Kaylinn walked out. Espo walked up to her, "Yo. How did you do on your soul mate paper smalls?"

Kaylinn looked at her Auntie Kate giving her Uncle Castle a look of annoyance, no it was more a look of begrudging amusement. Everyone could tell she loved when he teased her. Kaylinn looked back to her Uncle Esposito, "I got a C."

"What? Why? That is not like you." Espo said, "Teachers fault wasn't it? Told you she needed to get laid."

Kaylinn ignored her Uncle's later comment, "She thought I copied it." Kaylinn said and shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, did you?" asked Esposito.

Kaylinn glanced back to her Auntie and Uncle. Esposito looked in the same direction as Kaylinn, "Did you use something Castle wrote?"

Kaylinn smiled, "Yeah, yeah in essence I guess I kind of did. It's their story, not mine."

Esposito crossed his arms across his chest and drew in a breath and released it in understanding. "They're like Ole' Johnny and June, huh?"

Captain Gates suddenly walked up, "Hi little Ryan," Gates raised her eyebrow at Esposito, "What are we standing around looking at Esposito?"

Kaylinn smiled, "Soul mates."


End file.
